You will likely also get a higher number outside than inside, for me it was about a 30 watt difference so like 12%, everybody is different though, so don’t just add 12% test it for your self if you haven’t already
On my first botched test my HR reached 180 bpm and I figured that was just about my max as I once scored 183 bpm 15 months earlier, on the retest my heart rate only reached 178 bpm before the ERG mode death spiral kicked in, so I figured I had a little bit more in the tank and upped my ftp by 5W. Not going to do that this time though…
Also curious to see what summer outdoor riding will bring, I still ride outside but conditions aren’t good enough to go really hard
in a similar place to you - M/47/80kg.
Started SSB MVI with FTP 250.
7 wks later (6+1 wk rest), retested at 250.
Did SSB MVII, completed all but 2 threshold sessions (bailed on the last interval). 6+1 wk rest, retested at… 250
Planbuilder has me doing 8wks of sustained build next, but I might switch to polarized instead.
good luck, the struggle is real!
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What is your strenght routine and how much do you eat? What do workouts feel like for you?
M/25/110kg, new to cycling as of September, former college athlete and crossfit history
Started at 315w, measured on kickr, just finished SSB MV-base 1. Got a pair of favero assioma shimano spindles, noticed over the previous week that they were reading ~10w low (roughly 170w when reading 180w on erg mode, etc). retested yesterday with power match (favero-kickr) at 335w (roughly 345w by previous measurement equipment differentials so a roughly 10% improvement?). i’m excited for ssb mv-base 2, and excited to finally take my measurements outside (i had had a stages left crank, and my pedals are telling me that i’m roughly 54/46 left-heavy imbalanced, so that was reading as much as 30w high consistently). i did hit 192 HR during the test which was mind-boggling to see!
progression changes
| category | old | new |
|---|---|---|
| endurance | 5.4 | 3.2 |
| tempo | 3.4 | 1.7 |
| sweet spot | 4.9 | 2.5 |
| threshold | 3.4 | 1.0 |
| (base 1 didn’t feature any vo2, anaerobic, or sprint training) |
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I just finished Low Volume Half Ironman base , 8 weeks in total. Did a day a riding more than the plan had.
I am 60 years old.
Started at 244 watts, and just retested at 258 watts!! (5.7% increase). I’m thrilled.
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Progression:
Re-tested after 4 weeks of short power build mid volume: 346w @ 4,38 w/kg. So very happy with the result. This puts me over my previous 5min PR from 2019 since the ramp test has me @ ±410 watt for 5 min. What was really motivating was the live FTP number going up in the last couple of seconds.
Next block is SSBMV2 which seems to have a whole lot of vo2 / threshold and a weekly sweetspot ride. I did the first threshold workout yesterday and managed to complete it with around 30/35min of time in zone. Felt hard but doable, again.
To my previous point the intervals.icu and Xert metrics still put me in ‘unproductive’ load. I’m going to ignore them from now on.
One point though is that I like to ride outside min 2 / week and the prescribed workouts are at levels hard to maintain or do on normal flat roads around here. Let alone in groups. So wondering a bit which workout to substitute with a (MTB) technique or socially focused ride outside. I was thinking the SS since it’s the less ‘hard’ one for me, but I’m not sure if this makes any sense?
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If I take a workout outside I tend only to do it with the endurance ones (although I have done Tempo, sweetspot and some o/u ones, particularlyduring lockdow). I am doing a LV plan though and although I do a lot of outdoors riding, it’s done at my own/group pace.
I went from 273 to 287 off of six-weeks of SSB MV. A few of those weeks had more outdoor rides mixed in but the last three were all on the trainer.
Early December I decided to get serious about dropping some LBS before a cycling vacay I have coming up in mid-Feb and made some dietary changes… Nothing drastic, just paying more attention and limiting meat/cheese and chips, and doing Huel for breakfast instead of a bowl of high-fiber cereal w soy milk. Still fueling well for my workouts and recovery with plenty of CHO. I’m down from 192 to 186 as of today.
W/kg is around 3.5 now (tested a bit low) and my goal is to get to 3.75 by mid-Feb and 4.0 by summer.
That means losing another 10lbs and picking up 30-ish Watts. I think that’s doable.
I switched over to HV Polar for my next block to up my time-in-saddle for the riding vacay. My opportunities to do long outdoor rides will be few and far between, so I feel like getting 8-10hrs each week on the trainer will be a good thing.
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So you should be - that’s a great bump 
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Awesome job
Awesome what’s training plans & volume did you do during you FTP gains? Thanks
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In Jan-Feb I followed a low volume Sufferfest plan. Than moved to a low-volume plan from a coach: three days a week, 3 weeks on/1 week off. When I reached an ok FTP we shifted focus to building endurance.
Over winter, all structured sessions are done indoor (1 to 1.5 hours per session), and the rest of the year I do at least one session per week indoor. The outdoor sessions are longer (3-4 hours).
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I’ve been using TrainerRoad for several years, but I have a hard time keeping consistent. 2021 was the first year that I ever used TR through the summer.
March 2021 - first test, FTP 241. (The highest I’ve ever tested in previous years was 287)
July (or August) 2021 FTP 299
September 2021 FTP 313.
I had a few bad test days I think because it went way down to 287…
My most recent test was 306 FTP.
I’m looking forward to really hitting it in the new year.
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Pretty cool, thanks a bunch
I tore my ACL and had surgery in January. My highest FTP prior was 287. Started back training in October after doing mostly rehab and gym work all year. My starting ramp test was 260, after low volume base 1 I jumped to 298, and have dropped from 194 to 177lbs. I previously never had proper nutrition or included gym work in my training. What a game changer!
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Took up cycling after long term injury from football (soccer) the previous 2 years.
13 rides averaging 19km per from July 29. - Sept. 4 2021 and indoor training started Sept 8. 2021
Sweet Spot Base LV I
Sweet Spot Base LV II
1 week custom 30:15 focus
2 weeks custom Sweet Spot extenders
05.08.2021: 180 FTP, 88 kg, 21%, 2.04 W/kg
08.09.2021: 215 FTP, 89 kg, 21%, 2.41 W/kg
18.10.2021: 228 FTP, 88 kg, 20.1%, 2.59 W/kg
28.11.2021: 233 FTP, 82.5 kg, 18.5%, 2.82 W/kg
10.12.2021: 238 FTP, 82 kg, 16.5%, 2.90 W/kg
31.12.2021: 244 FTP, 81.7 kg, 16.3%, 2.99 W/kg
Shouldn’t have had those cookies yesterday, but overall happy with the progress given first time actively riding a bike since teen years (17 years ago).
Long term goal of improving fitness and maybe body accepting the torture that is direction changes to take up football again.
Also loosely aiming for 4 W/kg with a spring weight goal of 78 kg (184cm), so will see what the next 4 months of first indoor training season concludes with.
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I just got back to 4W/Kg after taking 6 months off:
That has been done with only about 3 rides per week, all on the trainer: a mix of VO2 max, Sweetspot and longer, harder zwift races.
So it is possible to become very slow and lose all the speed and then to get the old magic back again. 
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261 oct 12 ramp test
Nov ssb lv
Dec 7th ramp test 280
Sustain power build low volumn
Jan 1 ramp test 286
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Great progress over such a short period of time! 